Perhaps it's no surprise to golfers that Atlanta's hottest — or should I say splashiest — new attraction is the Georgia Aquarium. With more than 100,000 fish swimming to and fro among 8 million gallons of water, the Georgia Aquarium is the world's largest.
For a landlocked city, Atlanta is awash in water and that holds true for its golf courses, too. Thanks to a bevy of beautifully-situated water hazards amidst the city's finest layouts, there's no shortage of drama when it's tournament time in the capital of The South.
The aqua-oriented fun parade starts at the Tournament Players Club at Sugarloaf in Duluth, a northeast suburb of Atlanta. Home to the BellSouth Classic, this TPC is a 10-year-old, Greg Norman-designed track that made its Tour debut in 1997. Early critiques centered on the layout's intriguing, free-flowing, sod wall bunkers, which were then unique in golf course design. Next came the whining from the pros — and especially caddies — because the TPC at Sugarloaf is extremely hilly. Then the lightbulbs went off. The pros eventually realized that when played before the Masters, Sugarloaf's hilly lies, large, undulating greens and closely mown chipping areas were perfect practice for Augusta National. For spectators and television viewers, however, only one thing mattered: Would this layout inspire exciting golf? The answer is an emphatic, "YES!" In Atlanta, it must be written somewhere in stone (maybe nearby Stone Mountain) that a tournament must end on a dramatic, liquid-laden hole. For the past nine years, the closing hole at the TPC at Sugarloaf has more than held up its part of the bargain. Originally tabbed to be a meaty par-4, the current version is a prototypical risk/reward par-5 for the pros, one that will yield a smattering of eagles, provided you've bashed two bold blows. The 576-yard dogleg right plunges downhill, to a two-level fairway. Even a drive that reaches the lower level faces a daunting, forced-carry second with a big club. Naturally, this carry is over water, in the form of a large lake. A short third is cause for pause as well. No matter how precisely placed the lay-up, the golfer is going to have to tempt the agony of a splash if the hole is cut on the left portion of the immense putting surface. It's an exhilarating hole for the members of this private club, as birdie or eagle is within reach for even middle-handicappers. For the pros, and the fans who are watching them, it's pure excitement, The TPC, however, is not Atlanta's only PGA Tour venue — and wouldn't you know it, every other course on the Big Occasion roster sports a closing hole menaced by water. Perhaps the toughest of the bunch is the home hole at the Highlands Course at Atlanta Athletic Club , which is situated in the same town as the TPC at Sugarloaf. Instead of a gambler's par-5, however, the AAC bids adieu with a mammoth par-4 that measures 490 yards on the card, but the majority of pros who dueled with it in the 2001 PGA Championship swore it played more than 500. The approach is all-carry, with no bail-out. Rees Jones did the fine-tuning on this hole and as usual, Jones made it a perfectly fair hole — just don't figure on a lot of heroics, unless your name happens to be David Toms. Toms wasn't overly aggressive, but things turned out just well for him at the PGA. One shot ahead of Phil Mickelson and paired together, Toms faced a shot of 214 yards to the hole. After much deliberation, he laid up with a wedge, leaving 88 yards for his third. Mickelson had safely reached the green in two and had a legitimate birdie try. Toms then lofted a lob wedge to 10 feet. Typical of Mickelson's efforts in those days, he hit a gorgeous putt, but it stayed out. He tapped in for par and waited to see if he might force a playoff. It was not to be. Toms coolly rolled in the 10-foot par putt to clinch his first major. Mickelson would finally win a major in Georgia, but it took three and a half more years.
